The Neutrino Oscillation Industry*

*Title taken from Maury Goodman's websitewww.neutrinooscillation.org

Funny math bit you may not have thought aboutsin2

is NOT just for angles and trigonometry,waves and other oscillating functions

and doesn't have to be a function of kx or t.

It is also can be used to represent a constantwhose value must be between 0 and 1

which is a property it shares with a probability.

Furthermore, this constant automatically includesits probability partner (1 P) = (1 sin2) = cos2

So we could use either sin2 or just as a constant of nature driving either/or probability.

Standard Model of Elementary Particles

What does a neutrino look like in our detector?

distance along beam axis36 cm

Strange question.How does an electron look? Proton? Gold nucleus?

Question: if we build experiments to detect neutrinoswhat will we see?

Neutrino interaction, May 2010from MINERvA experiment data

A picture of a typical neutrino interaction

muon neutrino muon

muon from pion decaypion

Carbonnucleus

v + n - + + + nbut neutral particles are unseen muon

pion

The neutrino turned into a muon, and made a pion

distance along beam axis36 cm

A picture of a typical neutrino interaction

muon neutrino muon

muon from pion decaypion

Carbonnucleus

v + n - + + + nbut neutral particles are unseen muon

pion

The neutrino turned into a muon, and made a pion

distance along beam axis36 cm

New Standard Model?

+ string theory?+ extra dimensions? missing Higgs particle?+ higher order group theory?+ Branes?+ New particles?+ New forces?+ Quarks not fundamental?+ Sub-structure to electron?+ Theory of Everything?+ Theory of Almost Everything?

How do we tell which are right?Or are they all science fiction or fantasy?

New Standard Model: Concrete Example1012

109

106

103

1

10-3

Higgs particle above this line is standardSupersymmetry particle?Super-massive Right-Handed Neutrino?quarks

charged leptons

Standard Cosmology

Post-modern Cosmology

Nobel Prize >2020 ?

Nobel Prize >2030 ?

Matter-Antimatter asymmetry (CP violation)

How to explain that our region of the universeseems to be nearly all matter, not anti-matter?

Actually there is a second boxwith anti-electrons (positrons)anti-up and anti-down quarks

and so on. We know these well.They are perfect opposites,

but actually not quite perfect!

But my shoes are not madeof anti-electrons.

My kids aren't made ofanti-protons and anti-neutrons.

Curious things about Quantum TheoryThat are important for the rest of the story.

A non quantum example of a quantum phenomenon.

Three ice creams.

You can describe them in terms of flavor:Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate.

You can describe them in terms of color:Red, White, Brown.

Curious things about Ice CreamsThat are important for the rest of the story.

Flavor comes from a perfume factory in New JerseyColor comes from a differentchemistry factory elsewhere in New Jersey.

Red does not have to taste like chocolate.There is no reason to think Vanilla won't be brown.

Quantum mechanics, particle physics standard modelAllow mixups like this to happen.

Experimentally figure out what New Jersey is doing!

More curious things about Ice CreamHypothesis: Darker colored ice cream will melt faster (decay)

regardless of its flavor.

We could start with 1 million ice creams, each is one combinationof color and flavor and take a two separate surveys:

1/3 S; 1/3 V; 1/3 C and also 1/3 W; 1/3 R; 1/3 B

Now all the brown ones melt away, and we look at whats left. 1/4 S; 1/2 V; 1/4 C and also 1/2 W; 1/2 R

If this is what New Jersey delivered, this is what you get...conclude that Brown was made of half strawberry, half chocolateYou know this by the deficit of S&C but no deficit of Vanilla!

Measured the flavor of a sample of many ice creams as a function of TIME (before and after)

for ice creams that are just sitting there minding their own business.

More curious things about NeutrinosThe physics of neutrinos is NOT the physics of melting or decaying.

It is the physics of superposition and interfering waves.

A neutrino oscillation experiment creates neutrinos as a flavor.

Experiments taste flavor.

But each neutrino also has one of three masses

(mass, not color!)

and the folks in New Jersey naturejumble flavor and mass

according to some secret formula.

Probability( to ) = sin22 sin2(1.27 m2 L/E)units: L in km, E in GeV, m in GeV/c2

m22 - m32

Measure L and E for each eventFit two parameters to the whole group of data.

Look for disappearance of muon neutrinos

Amplitude of maximum tauJust a number 1.0

IS NOT an oscillating term

Where in (travel Length)/(Energy)

does maximum tau occur?Really these are proper

oscillations in TIME

The secret formula!

If we create mu flavor

Neutrino detection

We detect things at Soudan with 5 thousand tons of instrumented iron. This device can see very well and e sorta okay

Neutrino flavor change

We produce and detect e and .Previous experimental results (1998, 2005) suggest:

1. this experiment will see fewer than we sent.AND

2. this experiment will see zero or almost zero e.

BECAUSE Some of the changed to .

Remember: Ice cream melting does not do this, but quantum mechanical particles can do this.

Neutrino oscillations: MINOS experiment

Situation: We create at Fermilab with a machine that only creates .

Send them through the earth to Soudan, MN.The L in our formula is 735 km

(really 2.5 milliseconds traveling at the speed of light).

How does MINOS see neutrinos?

We don't see the neutrinos themselves

We see the result of their interactionwith rock, steel, or plastic.

They communicate flavornot by tasting them:

a muon neutrinoproduces a muonin the interaction

We count muons.We count muonsreally, really well.

How does MINOS see muons?

Photo of ascintillator strip

41 mm10 mm

Cross-section photo of two scintillator strips with fibers glued into grooves.

Scintillator graphicscourtesy of Doug Michael, Caltech

Ionization produces light in scintillator

Fiber optics route light to a set of light sensors

High Voltage in, electrical pulse out

Thousands of pulses all come together here

Fermilab beam ->

Ask a computer to reconstruct it all.Side view Front (Fermilab) view

This one started in rockproduced a muon

which went into the front of detector

and stopped 2/3 through

What MINOS sees after four years of beam

What MINOS sees after four years of beam

Ratio of data to red prediction and best fit

What MINOS sees with the best fit to the formulaWhere in energy

the maximumeffect is seentells us aboutthe oscillating

term and (m2)

How deep themaximum effecttells us about theamplitude term

sin22

Probability( to ) = sin22 sin2(1.27 m2 L/E)units: L in km, E in GeV, m in GeV/c2

Higher E

Wherein Energy Is the dip

Lower E

How deep is the dip?Shallow Deep

What we measure for nature's parameters

More about particle masses1012

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106

103

1

10-3

quarks

charged leptons

We could see electrons instead of mu or tau? The secret formula assumes mu to tau oscillations

because nobody had seen mu to electron oscillationsso this is either very rare, or it never happens

The oscillation hypothesis says it could (should?)

MINOS is able to seeelectrons, sorta.

In fact, we expect someelectron like things

even without oscillationsbecause the beamisn't actually pure.

And even still, we seeextra! Sorta.Electron-like events in MINOS

Next steps in neutrino oscillations: NOvAMINOS is barely able to search for electron appearance

NOvA is optimized for this search and/or measurement.Located in Ash River, Minnesota

Hmm. T2K in Japan is a competing experiment

Next steps in neutrino oscillations:LBNE and search for CP violation

Radically different detector technology.Longer baseline. More powerful beam.

Combine numu disappearance, nue appearanceOptimized to look for differences between

neutrino oscillations and anti-neutrino oscillations

How can we see that this is maximally odd?no mixing at all.zero sin22 for all threecombinations 12 13 23

slight mixing among allall sin22 slightly above zero

full mixing among allall sin22 very close to 1

two mixings are maximaltwo sin22 are slightly less than oneand the other is slightly more than one

How can we see that this is maximally odd?no mixing at all.zero sin22 for all threecombinations 12 13 23

slight mixing among allall sin22 slightly above zero

full mixing among allall sin22 very close to 1

two mixings are maximaltwo sin22 are slightly less than oneand the other is slightly more than one

BORING

How can we see that this is maximally odd?no mixing at all.zero sin22 for all threecombinations 12 13 23

slight mixing among allall sin22 slightly above zero

full mixing among allall sin22 very